


Kitchen Lights

by meanderingmirth



Category: VIXX
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 10:30:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4259940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meanderingmirth/pseuds/meanderingmirth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Falling asleep can be difficult sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kitchen Lights

**Author's Note:**

> some soft sleepy Ken and Hongbin!
> 
> enjoy~

There’s a light on in the apartment from the building next to his.

Hongbin leans against the counter, playing idly with the loose threads and the buttons on his dressing robe with one hand. In the other, he cradles a cup of hot water, and stares.

Beyond the thin, yellow curtains that cover the patio door of his neighbour’s apartment, he can vaguely make out the shadow of somebody sitting at a table, hunched over something. The person had been here for a while now, and they hadn’t strayed far from their seat either. Hongbin wonders what exactly it is they’re doing.

He lifts his mug to his lips and takes a small sip, relishing in the steam that fans over his face and the liquid that warms his stomach in the chilly winter air. He hadn’t wanted to get out, but flopping back and forth like a man possessed on his bed wasn’t helping him find a comfortable spot nor any other viable means of falling asleep. Hongbin thought a drink and a bit of a walk to the kitchen might tire him some, but it’s been an hour since he leaned against the counter with his cup in the dark, looked out across their balcony, and saw that his neighbour was awake too.

The shadow shifts and the person stands, grabbing something across the table before returning to their previous position. It looked as though they were either reading or writing something, but Hongbin couldn’t be sure.

Down the hall, he hears his roommate, Sanghyuk, let out a roaring snore. Hongbin turns to glare balefully at the direction of the sound. Nice to know somebody’s sleeping well.

Another glance at the clock on the wall told him the time— 3:44 am. Sighing heavily to himself, Hongbin finished the last of his water and quietly placed his mug back into the sink. He walked over to pull the blinds over his patio door shut, rubbing warily at his eyes.

He returns to bed without a second thought.

+

Four days later, he’s staring at his neighbour’s lights again as he sits on the stool by the island counter, swirling his spoon through a small bowl of cereal. The lights are glowing brightly behind yellow curtains again, and this time his neighbour is sitting on the other side of the table, still hunched over something, but Hongbin can make out the faint outline of a laptop in front of them. Maybe they were a student or something, trying to finish their homework on time. He certainly remembered all the stressful nights spent fussing over essays and reports. Maybe that’s why it’s so difficult to fall asleep at night nowadays.

The fridge makes a mournful clunk behind him, and Hongbin pushes the tiny cereal loops around in the milk, yawning. He feels oddly jittery, and his muscles seem to tense and un-tense like he’d just run a marathon. It made him want to pace, even though moving was the last thing he felt like doing. He sighs, propping his chin up on his palm as he watched the soggy bits of cereal float just below the surface of the milk, bobbing sadly along. He tries not to think about his 9am shift at the store, because Hongbin can already envision himself dozing off while cataloguing the hardware supply. He doesn’t want to visit the ER and tell Sanghyuk that he dropped a hammer on his foot after falling asleep.

When the green numbers on the microwave finally flickered to 4:40am, Hongbin straightens with a groan and padded over to the sink, draining the lukewarm milk and the tiny bits of cereal he couldn’t pick up.

When he turns to look at his neighbour’s door one more time before attempting to sleep again, the lights were out and the kitchen dark; they had gone to sleep.

_Good for them_ , Hongbin thinks with a sigh, and shuffles back to bed as well.

+

The third time Hongbin stumbles out into the kitchen at 3am, he finally meets his neighbour.

The bright yellow curtains are closed, as usual, and the mysterious person is still sitting at the kitchen table, but tonight Hongbin is awake, cranky and hungry, so he raids the fridge and digs out the potstickers Sanghyuk brought weeks ago and forgot all about from the back of the freezer.

Cooking while half awake is, in some cases, troubling. Hongbin leans sleepily against the counter, watching the pan and the potstickers until his eyelids feel vaguely droopy. He might’ve actually dozed off for a minute if it hadn’t been for the ominous rattling of the lid and the amount of steam hissing out from the edges.

Panicking, Hongbin darted forwards and slapped on the light above the stove, throwing a portion of the kitchen into a hazy, comforting glow. But when he grabbed the lid and lifted it off, hot steam gushed into his face and Hongbin gasps, tripping over his own feet as he scrambles backwards. The lid falls from his hands and rolls away, leaving Hongbin to hastily turn on the fan before their incredibly sensitive smoke detector could go off (Sanghyuk wouldn’t be happy about that).

“Unbelievable,” he groans, pressing his hot fingers to his cheek as he ducks around the counter to find the lid. It was resting against the patio door, innocent as can be, and Hongbin glares at it as he stoops to pick it up.

When he looks up, there is a man standing on the balcony in the building over, watching him with a surprised expression on his face.

They stare at each other for a moment, and Hongbin feels incredibly surprised to see another living being awake at the early hour even though he’d seen his neighbour’s shadow through their curtains each time he wandered out into the kitchen. The man standing on the balcony is bundled in a thick wool sweater and an equally heavy scarf, leaving nothing but his curly hair, long nose and red mouth peeking out from all the wool. He’s got pants with popsicles patterned all over it, and he’s wearing boots with undone laces.

Hongbin slowly straightens, and the man’s eyes follow his movement. He’s suddenly very aware that he’s only wearing a thin undershirt and the flowery pink pyjama bottoms Hakyeon brought for him as a gag once, and he blushes, cradling the lid to him as he stands. Then, though he’s not quite sure why he did it, Hongbin quickly bows as well, but he’d completely forgotten about how close he was to the glass. As a result, he promptly smashed his forehead into the patio door with enough force to make the glass rattle.

Yelping in pain, he grabbed his forehead, and the lid slipped from his fingers, falling with a heavy  _clunk_  onto his foot, and apparently that’s enough to end Lee Hongbin at ass o’clock in the morning. He collapsed, holding his forehead with one hand and his foot with the other, and when he looked up again, eyes watering, his neighbour has got both hands clapped over his mouth. He removes them to mouth what Hongbin suspects is an  _are you okay?_ , but he can’t be sure.

Face burning, Hongbin shuffles away from the window, bowing repeatedly as the guy watches on with something akin to sympathetic pain and pity. When they make eye contact again, the man gestures for Hongbin to open the patio door, and after a moment’s hesitation, Hongbin slowly moves to do so, even though he feels like sinking into the floor.

“Hiya,” his neighbour says when Hongbin steps outside, shivering in the cold. “Are you okay? You hit your head pretty darn hard.”

“I’m fine,” Hongbin replies, laughing nervously. “Nothing to worry about, I’ve got a thick skull.”

“Really?” his neighbour asks, a cheeky grin on his face. “That’s what my friends say about me too. They usually use it as an excuse to give me noogies when I lose bets.”

“Ow,” Hongbin chuckles, wincing. “That doesn’t sound fun.”

“Somebody has to make the noble sacrifice within a group,” the man sighs tragically, clutching his chest. “That is my sad fate.”

“Well, let’s hope you can change your fate around then,” Hongbin smiles, and his neighbour blinks at him before smiling back, bright and cheerful despite the darkness of the early hour surrounding them.

“Can’t sleep?” his neighbour asks, tilting his head, and Hongbin grimaces.

“Yeah... it’s been like that for a while now.”

“Ah,” the man nods, making his curly hair bounce a little. “I know that feeling. Sometimes it feels like the early hour is the only time my brain is capable of functioning.”

“I’ve noticed,” Hongbin says, and then he flushes again, realizing how creepy that was. “Well like, I mean, I’ve just noticed that— you’re up late too sometimes, when I’m up, and— uh, wow, that just sounded bad.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, but the other man is grinning widely.

“Don’t worry,” he laughs. “I get what you mean. I’m up a lot too, and I turn on all the lights in my house too. I’m not excited to see my electricity bill at the end of the month.”

“That’s why I keep my lights off,” Hongbin jokes, and the other man laughs.

“I’m Jaehwan, by the way,” Jaehwan says, sticking his hand out over the rail.

“Hongbin,” Hongbin replies, and he has to lean over the rail as well, the cold metal digging into his stomach as he takes Jaehwan’s hand for a shake. Long fingers brush against the inside of his palm and he’s not sure if it’s that or the sudden gust of wind that makes him shiver.

“S’good to meet you, Hongbin,” Jaehwan grins. “You should probably go in before you catch a cold.”

“I should,” Hongbin agrees, and their hands slide apart.

“Don’t be afraid to hop outside for a chat if you’re ever awake,” Jaehwan waves. “I’ll be up.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Hongbin laughs, and he turns to walk back into his apartment.

On the other side, Jaehwan gives him a cheeky wave before vanishing behind bright yellow curtains once more.

Hongbin stands for a moment and stares through the glass.  _Jaehwan_ , his mind supplies.

The owner of the light next door finally has a name.

+

Over the course of three weeks, Hongbin learns several things about his new friend. Jaehwan is a composer, and is handy with anything from piano pieces to pop songs and ballads. He plays a bit of the guitar as well, and he was incredibly excited when Hongbin tells him he’s been playing since second grade. Jaehwan also used to share a room with a college friend until they moved out, and thus left him to brainstorm songs all by his lonesome. Jaehwan likes anime, likes Kit Kat bars, collecting figurines and Toonie Tuesdays at the fast food restaurant down the block.

Jaehwan also learns some things about Hongbin too, like how he worked at a hardware store when he isn’t at school, that he studies art history, rooms with Sanghyuk, an old friend from high school, and likes the unofficial Friday evening discounts the baker gives at the bakery across the street when they’re trying to give away the last of their bread.

Jaehwan can’t sleep because he’s got too many things on his mind. Hongbin, on the other hand, is awake because of the buzzing silence in his.

“The emptiness terrifies me,” Hongbin admits from where he’s sitting on a lawn chair, beanie hat pulled low over his ears and mittens over his hands. The cup of hot coca is cooling, and Jaehwan’s own cup is sitting on a small table as the he scribbles into a notebook.

“That’s interesting,” Jaehwan hums. “I didn’t realize that you could feel unease from a lack of thought either. Mostly I just worry back and forth, and then I’m thinking of another lyric, or about something I saw somebody do on the subway or something I overheard somebody say while I’m standing in line at the grocery store. I wish I had a tap that I could just use to turn everything off.”

“I guess neither extreme is a good thing,” Hongbin muses, and Jaehwan shakes his head, chuckling.

“Yeah, but I’m glad I’m not totally alone with my late night escapades anymore,” he says, and Hongbin cracks a smile.

“Me too,” he says, and Jaehwan beams.

+

“Who are you always chatting with on the balcony in the middle of the night?” Sanghyuk asks him over dinner one evening, between mouthfuls of spaghetti and meatballs they’d managed to put together.

“Just a friend,” Hongbin shrugs, shaking more parmesan onto his noodles, and Sanghyuk waggles his eyebrows.

“Pretty dedicated of them to stay up late all the time with you,” he says, and Hongbin gives him a light kick under the table.

“We hang out because we both can’t sleep, you serial snorer,” Hongbin says, stifling a yawn as Sanghyuk laughs. He’s been getting sleepier, he thinks, but he doesn’t put any more thought to it when Sanghyuk swipes another meatball from him.

+

When Hongbin slowly blinks awake one night, he’s surprised to see the mix of blue and black in the gap between his curtains, the colours usually associated with the transition between night to dawn. When he rolls over and grabs his alarm clock, Hongbin is amazed to see that it’s not two, three, or four in the morning, but ten minutes past six in the morning.

He’s finally slept through the whole night.

+

Jaehwan is waiting for him on his balcony, curly hair exceptionally frizzled as he grins tiredly at Hongbin when he steps outside in a jacket and warm slippers.

“Hiya,” he says, wiggling his fingers at him, and Hongbin gives a slight nod in return.

“Hey,” he replies, walking over. “Still up?”

“Unfortunately so,” Jaehwan hums as he pulled at the frayed ends on the sleeves of his coat. A gust of chilly wind blows by and ruffles his curls even more. “Did you finally get some sleep?”

“Yeah,” Hongbin smiles, rubbing his eyes as he looks towards the direction of the sunrise, and Jaehwan’s expression brightens.

“That’s great! You’ve finally gotten a full night’s rest!”

“Almost a full night,” Hongbin corrects, but he’s feeling much better than he has for weeks. But Jaehwan’s still got bags under his eyes, and Hongbin's worried. “Have you been up all night, still?”

“I took a power nap sometime between four to five in the morning,” Jaehwan winks, and Hongbin laughs.

“That’s good,” he says softly, and Jaehwan puffs his chest up proudly. They stand in silence for a moment, just looking at each other, and Hongbin feels his heart flutter at the sight of Jaehwan in his untied boots, checkered pants now, and a thick parka.

“Hey,” Jaehwan says, leaning over the railing of the balcony, a soft smile on his face. It makes a fond kind of warmth spread all over Hongbin’s cheeks.

“Hi,” he replies, returning the smile.

“How ‘bout you come over for some coffee?” Jaehwan asks, tilting his head as he jerks his thumb to his kitchen.

Hongbin looks down, scuffs his toes against the bit of snow that still remained on his balcony, and grins. “That sounds good,” he says, and Jaehwan’s smile widens.

“I’ll buzz you up then,” he says lightly, and Hongbin nods, shuffling backwards into his apartment. Jaehwan continued to smile at him from across the balcony. He almost didn’t want to take his eyes off the other man, irrationally afraid that Jaehwan was only a dream his hazy mind had cooked up in a fit of sleepless confusion. But even after he blinks a few times, Jaehwan is still standing there, waiting, and Hongbin quickly ducks back into his apartment, sliding the balcony door shut behind him. He scribbled a quick note to Sanghyuk explaining he’d gone out, and then he’s jamming his feet into his boots and hurrying out of his apartment. The ride down the elevator was felt agonizingly slow, as was the trip up to Jaehwan’s flat. His footsteps are hurried but muffled as he runs down the hallway, puffing a little, and when he stops in front of the whitewashed door, it takes him a moment to gather himself and raise his hand to knock.

But before his knuckles could make contact, the door opens, and Jaehwan is in front of him, hair mussed, a wide smile on his face.

“Good morning,” he says softly, holding out his hand to Hongbin, and he takes it, feeling the warmth of Jaehwan’s palm envelop his fingers.

“Good morning,” he replies, smiling, and steps into Jaehwan’s home.

**Author's Note:**

> lately I've been trying to sleep earlier, but I still wake up really late in the afternoon. why is that? ( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
> 
> thanks for taking the time to read!


End file.
